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| Randall Stallworth finished with 21 points - all in the second half - in a 62-58 win over Southern Connecticut. |
Are You Serious? Stallworth Caps Wild Comeback
Easton, Mass. - Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J.) scored all 21 of his points in the second half including 13 straight that help erase a 12-point deficit and result in a dramatic 62-58 win over visiting Southern Connecticut on Tuesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium.
After going 0-for-3 in the first half, Stallworth erupted - going 8-for-9 in the final 20 minutes while adding five rebounds and two assists.
Stallworth's heroics saved the Skyhawks for what would've been one the worse losses in recent memory. The Owls entered the game at 0-7 and traveled with only seven players.
Down eight early on in the first half, the visitors stayed close and scrapped back to get to within four at 27-24 at halftime.
They then opened the second frame on a 22-8 run over the first nine minutes to take a 45-35 lead.
The Owls edge fell to six at 47-41 following a Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J.) triple but five straight points from Derrick Corbett had the Southern Connecticut advantage at 52-41 with 7:58 left.
Stallworth then proceeded to score 19 of Stonehill's final 21 points over the final 6:54 of the game in to help the Skyhawks secure the win.
A personal run of 13 straight Stonehill points was stopped by a Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) layup that tied the game at 56 apiece with 2:24 left.
A three-pointer from Stallworth gave the Skyhawks the lead at 59-56 and following a layup from John Mazzarella, he drove to the basket and converted a conventional three-point play that capped the game's scoring.
This offensive explosion for Stallworth isn't a new phenomenon. He scored 18 straight and all of his career-high 28 points in the second half in last season's loss to Bentley in the Northeast-10 Semifinals.
In addition to Stallworth, Stonehill got double figure scoring performances from both A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) (15 points, eight rebounds) and Kernan (10 points, five rebounds).
The Owls, who now fall to 0-8, were paced by Corbett's 19 points and double-doubles from both Mazzarella (12 points, 13 rebounds) and Kieran Ramsey (11 points, 13 rebounds).
Stonehill, which improves to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Northeast-10, returns to action on Saturday when they step out of league play for a 7 p.m. tip with Concordia (N.Y.).